The Versailles
by astheRomans
Summary: Celebrating the summer after graduation, Hermione takes Ginny on a cruise with her around Europe. When suddenly they realize they are in the company of the most unlikely of characters. Rating subject to change. DM/HG BZ/GW
1. Brest

Disclaimer: Not mine….. I surrender your characters JK… but one day…. Muahahaha….

Set Up: Hermione, Draco, and Blaise, are all 18 and Ginny is 17… as you might have seen in the summary… they are on a cruise.. lets see what mischief may occur. PLEASE REVIEW

Chapter 1 : Brest

Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley had been standing in a line for two hours. Passports in-hand, they queued their way up to a desk. At said desk was a large woman, whose name tag read Martha.

"Passport please," Martha said in an unexpectedly high pitched and equally unpleasant voice.

Hermione and Ginny were in the wonderful city of Brest, France. Having flown from England earlier that morning, they now stood in the vicinity of a large sea port.

This was the beginning of the two weeks they had been planning for months, as a celebration of Hermione's graduation from Hogwarts. As soon as they had gotten back to the real world, once school was done, they had begun poring over brochures and fliers for cruise ships, looking for the perfect way to celebrate.

They excitedly handed over their passports, all the while trying to contain themselves and try to look like they went on two week long, unchaperoned cruises all the time. Martha performed all the necessary transactions and such while they looked at their itinerary for the millionth time- board the ship in Brest, sail two days, spend a day in Torquay, sail two more days, spend two days in Brighton, sail three days, spend a day in Ipswich, then sail for two more days and finally end in Amsterdam.

"Girls!" Martha's suddenly demanding and harsh voice caught their attention as they sheepishly realized that they were holding up the same process for others behind them.

"Sorry, we're a little excited," apologized Hermione, flashing her smile that made all adults instantly love her and always made her a favorite.

Martha's harshness quickly evaporated, and it seemed as though the previous exchange hadn't taken place.

"That's okay girls. If you would just take your passports and walk through those doors to drop your luggage, you should be on the ship in no time at all." Martha smiled, it seemed as though it was something she didn't do very often and she must have realized this, as it quickly slid off her face, although her eyes were still warm and kindly.

The two girls continued through a few more queues getting things such as, room keys, photos, cruise I.d.'s and dropping their luggage off to be taken to their room. Finally they boarded the ship, crossing the threshold between a Brest Local Port ramp-way and into a large, slightly bulky, hunk of floating metal, that would act as their home for the next two weeks. Joy.

The _Versailles _was a very magnificent ship, indeed. With, as either Hermione or Ginny could tell, nine or ten decks. All including two pools, a water slide, spa, library, casino, many-a bars, lounges, and clubs, and of course places to shop.

"Merlin," Ginny gaped, as they entered into the grand staircase.

The main entryway had an extremely oversized marble staircase, leading up to the higher decks. A plethora of seating areas surrounding a small bar, elevators, and an entry to the formal dining area.

"Let's go check out our room," Hermione suggested, pulling Ginny towards the elevators. They had room 701, and so they twisted and turned their way through the mass of confusion the cruise people called a corridor until they located their room, and as Hermione slid the key card with a flourish, Ginny couldn't resist a squeal of excitement- here they were!

Unbeknownst to them, walking only yards behind them that whole time were two familiar, yet less-than-welcome faces, belonging to Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. The boys were not having as much trouble hiding how excited they were as the girls, simply because they were used to stuff like this.

As he stalked down the hallway, always staying slightly ahead of Blaise, Draco was not paying attention to where he was going, trusting that the worker in front of him would lead him to the correct room. Normally, he would have been pushing past or complaining just loud enough for the worker to hear him. But he was too busy telling himself over and over that the frizzy brown hair he saw while standing in line didn't belong to that Hermione girl. There was no way she was here, and even if she was he was not going to let her ruin his two weeks of girls, gambling and drinks.

Blaise followed quietly, wondering what was wrong with his traveling companion. He knew something had to be, otherwise he would be making more smart ass cracks than the worker would have known what to do with.

"Here you are, sirs, room 821, with every commodity you asked for," the worker was overly polite because he could tell this kid, even in his subdued state was NOT one to mess with.

Both boys pushed passed him, Draco ignoring him while Blaise looked embarrassed for his friend's behavior and offered a muttered "Thanks."

Back on the seventh floor, Hermione and Ginny found the room they acquired to be just perfect. There was a small mini kitchen, with a sink, microwave, refrigerator, and just enough counter space. There was a door to the right with a small bathroom, holding a toilet, shower and sink. Further into the room was a small seating area with a loveseat and small chair. A bureau across the room held a television. There was large sliding glass window sat adjacent to the seating area leading to a small balcony. A door led to a bedroom with two doubles, and a small dresser. The cabin itself was much larger than the two had expected. Just perfect.

"Time to unpack," Ginny mumbled as she set her suitcase atop her bed. "I hate un-packing, all it leads to is the fact that you have to pack it all back up in the end."

Hermione laughed at her friend, she knew they were going to have a great time on this cruise. And with that Hermione tossed her suitcase onto the floor, unzipped it and opened some drawers.

"Ginny, what would you like to do first after we unpack? I mean we have to go see the embarkation, but after that?" asked Hermione, folding her pants and placing them in the bottom drawer.

"Well, after waiting in that horrid line all day, I am famished. How about we scout out the buffet and grab some dinner?" Ginny provided.

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

So they finished up their packing and attempted to navigate themselves to the main deck for the embarking of the ship. They found their way to the pool deck and went to lean on one of the railings. As Ginny looked over the edge, down at the glistening water she tried to imagine how much fun they could possibly have on this cruise. Ginny was brought back out of her reverie by a small, tan man in a Blue uniform, bearing Jose on his nametag. He was holding a tray of brightly colored beverages.

"Beverage ladies?" asked Jose extending the tray towards Ginny. "Are you 18 miss? These are alcoholic and I cant be handing them out to minors."

"Of course I'm 18!" lied Ginny, being only 17. But the waiter could not read Ginny's lie, placing the tray back in front of Ginny.

"Well than pick any one you fancy." Jose said smiling. "And have a happy departure!"

Hermione grabbed a red colored drink while Ginny grabbed a blue tinted one. They each took sips of their drinks. Each "mmhmm"-ing in their turn. They both leaned over the railing resting their elbows on the wooden banister.

Blaise and Draco unpacked, and were lounging around on their deck watching their departure. Draco had his feet up on the railing as he reclined back in a large wooden deck chair. Blaise stood up and pulled open the sliding glass door.

"So, Draco, what is on the agenda for tonight, my friend?" He asked as he casually walked inside the cabin. Draco stood and followed him into their room.

"Well I believe this occasion, being the first night on our cruise; we should celebrate it in style. How about we grab some food and hit the casinos?" Draco suggested pulling the tie off of his ensemble of black slacks, and a plain button up white dress shirt. Blaise followed suit.

"Sounds good to me, man. Let's head out."

They each brought a room key, and their cruise I.D.'s, the one thing the needed for anything. Then they headed for the elevators. Going down one floor, and heading out onto the pool deck, the buffet was on the other side of the ship across the pool deck. They saw that for the departure they were giving out free drinks. So Draco and Blaise decided to stop and grab some drinks before heading to the buffet. After that they would be heading over to the Royal Casino and Antoinette bar.

"To a splendid vacation. Cheers mate," Blaise said as he took a sip of his drink, but not before toasting Draco.

"Cheers," said Draco and with a large swig of his cherry flavored drink, he turned to look at the retreating city.

And with the sound of the fog horn, the ship erupted in cheers, hoots, and hollers. The two sets of friends, less than twenty yards away from each other and still oblivious to the fact that the others were there, watched the mainland disappear gradually as they left the memories of long lines, and the hustle and bustle in the city of Brest, France. The group was setting out on what would turn out to be one of the most bizarre, exciting, and enjoyable cruise of their lives.

AN: Well there you go… how did you like it? Friendly criticism, comments, concerns, and ideas or complaints are extremely welcome! PLEASE REVIEW coughcough.


	2. At Sea

Leslie A

Disclaimer: I don't own these FABULOUS characters… sadly.

Rating: T/M-for language.

A/N: Much, much, longer than the last chapter as you can see. Sorry it took a little while to get out but here it is. I did my best to get all the bugs out of it the first go around. Enjoy! Criticism is always welcome!

The Versailles

Chapter 2:

At Sea

Hermione watched the retreating city, a pit of excitement growing in her stomach. She had been looking forward to this day since the moment she and Ginny had made the reservations. She had a chance to be whoever she wanted to be, for a week at least.

As if she was reading Hermione's mind, Ginny turned and said. "Are you ready to have fun? Let go of everything?"

Ginny was just as excited, if not more, because she was tired of her brothers always trying to protect her, and of her parents always treating her like a baby. She may be the youngest in the family, but they had to realize at some point that she had grown up some time ago.

"I've never been more ready. I just want out of here," Hermione replied. "A week of just us, no one we know, no one at all. New adventures, new places, new boys…just what we needed."

Ginny grinned in reply. Her smile quickly faded as she glanced over Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione turned in confusion. "What is it?" she demanded, not seeing anything.

Ginny shook her head, trying to erase an image from her mind like an Etch-a-Sketch. "I thought I saw…but I could be wrong…but it looked like…oh my God…no…okay."

Hermione groaned in frustration. "What the hell is it?"

"I thought, just for a second, I saw Zabini…and right after I was sure it wasn't him, I thought I saw Malfoy…but it couldn't be."

Hermione wasn't so easily persuaded. "Well they did talk about a cruise, and they never specified which one, all they said was there was no way anyone could be on the same one unless they had made reservations a long…long…time….ago." Hermione's voice slowed and diminished as she realized they had made their reservations just over a year ago.

Ginny followed her trail of thought. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They are not here, they're on another cruise with a completely different destination, and they won't be bothering us because _they aren't here._"

Hermione looked skeptical, but nodded anyway. "You're right. We're just…letting our imaginations run away. They're probably on some stupid cruise to…somewhere way exotic and not where we're going."

Ginny flashed a smile at her and looked back at the city, which was now barely visible. She was a little disappointed Blaise wasn't here. She knew she would be drinking, and she had always thought how fun it would be to hook up with Blaise if she was drunk.

Hermione wasn't as distraught, but she had to admit that she wouldn't have passed up a drunken opportunity with Draco.

The city gradually disappeared, as did nearly everyone on the deck. Hermione and Ginny were famished, and headed down to the buffet.

Blaise knew he had seen Ginny. He knew that red hair, that freckled face, that unforgettable smile. He knew Granger and she had had plans to go on a cruise, but he had never imagined that it would be the same one as Draco and him.

Although Blaise was generally pretty quiet, Draco recognized something different about the quiet daze Blaise had been in since they came off the deck.

"What is it?"

"What is what?" Blaise answered quickly.

"What is this…whatever is making you all quiet and reserved. We're on a cruise, far away from everyone we know, farther away from everyone we hate, with free drinks and an almost limitless amount of chicks for the both of us, plus a few somewhere that will be worth recycling. So why are you being all...whatever?"

Blaise blew out a breath and muttered, "Not as far as you think," then proceeded to down his glass of champagne in one gulp. A waiter quickly appeared to refill it, but he ordered a scotch instead. He needed something stronger to deal with this.

"Not as far as I think? Yes we are…everyone else is back…well I don't know and frankly I don't care, but they aren't here." Draco finished off his third glass of champagne and got another as the waiter brought Blaise's scotch.

"Draco. I saw that Weasley girl and the Muggle girl, too," Blaise informed him. He quickly downed half of his scotch then sat back and closed his eyes, waiting for Draco's reaction.

"I thought I saw her…are you sure?" Draco fumed.

"I'm pretty sure…not too many people have hair like either of those bitches." He pinched his knee for calling Ginny a bitch.

"Fuck! That's just what I need, some damn girls all hyped on shopping and tanning to ruin my week." Draco was inconsolable.

Blaise nearly grinned at the thought of Ginny walking around in a bikini, her skin glossy with oil and darkening from the sun. Shit…when had he started thinking of Ginny that way? Ginny Weasley, brother to the dumbest boy he knew; she was ex-girlfriend to a boy that everyone hated.

"Well, it's not like they're anywhere near us, and as long as they don't know we're here, they can't bother us. So let's just chill out and enjoy ourselves."

Blaise's reasoning seemed to calm Draco, but Blaise knew there was something being kept from him.

"Spill, mofo. I'm not dumb, I know that you're not telling me everything."

Draco closed his eyes and finished the fourth glass of champagne sitting in front of him before answering. "When we first got here, I thought I had seen the Granger girl. I thought she saw me too, and…

Blaise knew what he was getting at: if the girls knew they were here, who knew what would go down?

A few hours later, the dinner bell rang. The tradition on this ship was to have formal dinner the first night on the cruise, so Hermione, Ginny, Blaise, and Draco all looked their best- something slightly easier for Draco and Blaise, as it's always easier to look effortlessly amazing when all your clothes are hand made for your every body part.

Hermione and Ginny teetered in cautiously, constantly yet silently fearing a sudden wave would knock them off their stiletto high heels. Hermione's dress was a cap sleeve subdued crimson that didn't even come to midthigh. It hugged her tightly, the kind of dress that only lucky girls, without an ounce of fat on their bodies, could wear. She was clearly one of those blessed girls, and didn't object to flaunting it.

Ginny wore a deep green halter dress with a short flirty skirt. It clung to her torso in just the right places, and showed off her legs like nothing else.

Both girls looked phenomenal. Hermione accessorized with a simple silver chain and a silver metallic clutch, holding the necessary make up, mirror, and phones, while Ginny opted for her matching gold bracelet and earrings.

The guys both wore suits, Draco's an emerald green so dark it looked black, Blaise's a dark brown. Their hair was out of their faces, but it was definitely was not slicked back, that's just tacky.

"Okay, we're at table…six. Ooh, that's my lucky number," Ginny said to Hermione. Ginny glanced around the room a few times before spotting the right table.

"There it is," Hermione squealed, then quickly composed herself. She clutched Ginny's arm and they made their way to the table. Without having to discuss it, they chose the two seats with the view of the ocean through the glass walls, sitting with their backs to the door.

Draco and Blaise sauntered into the dining room.

"I hate that they seat us with random people, why can't we just sit by our…" Draco trailed off as he saw two girls seated at his table. "Then again, this could work."

The girls at their table had their backs to them, so they couldn't see their faces, but from the back they looked gorgeous. Draco and Blaise quickly added a little more pep to their step, eager to get there and meet the beautiful ladies gracing their table with their presence.

Ginny saw two boys walking in their direction, and she quickly warned Hermione, "Boys. Coming this way. Be cool."

Hermione laughed at her, knowing that Ginny wouldn't care what happened as long as they had fun.

"Good evening ladies, how are y…Are you fucking kidding me?"

Hermione knew that voice. She got chills from that voice, but she couldn't decide if they were good or bad.

She turned around and looked Draco directly in his grey eyes. She knew this was torture for him, as it was for her.

"Please tell me you are assigned to any table in the world besides this one."

Draco's scowl told her the answer. "Believe me, I would love to, but I've decided not to lie anymore. Except when needed."

Neither Draco nor Hermione noticed the heated stare that was passing between Ginny and Blaise; they were too busy arguing to notice. Ginny's eyes were locked with Blaise's and she wasn't planning on moving them anytime soon.

Draco huffed as he grudgingly sat down; Blaise realized he probably should as well. With herculean effort, he broke eye contact with Ginny and took his seat next to Draco, his back to the glistening water. He didn't dare look at Ginny again, for fear he wouldn't be able to look away…damn. Was he really that smashed already?

Hermione glanced at Ginny, noticing something between her and Blaise; Ginny had always said Blaise would be a drunken hook up, and all Ginny had had today was one cosmo and two daiquiris. It generally took about that for Ginny to start feeling a little light headed, but maybe the water was screwing with her and made her more susceptible to alcohol.

Or maybe Hermione just didn't want to acknowledge the fact that her best friend might possibly be crushing on the best friend of Draco Malfoy.

Their waiter approached to a scene of four extremely awkward people. Two which gave death glares to one another, and two which couldn't bear to look at each other. And with a slightly confused expression he took their orders. Each course the situation failed to change. Draco and Hermione would not stop arguing. Whether it be over how the salad dressing tasted funny, or how a predicament such as this could ever occur. Blaise and Ginny, on the other hand, rarely glanced towards one another. Nor did they have a word to speak to each other. After about forty five minutes of this constant bickering, Hermione announced she had enough with this "insufferable git" and proclaimed she was going to take a walk out on the deck.

"Aren't you coming with me Gin?" she demanded.

"No," she said politely to Hermione's surprise, "I'm fine here."

And with that Hermione stormed out the dining room doors onto the balcony. She was still visible from inside the ship, leaning on the railing outside.

Ginny felt bad about not going with her friend, but maybe now that Hermione was gone Malfoy would leave, and she could talk to Blaise. That is, if her mouth could actually form words around him.

Ginny's wish was fulfilled not five minutes later, when Draco stood and declared he would be right back, and left it at that. Ginny and Blaise both knew better than to question him when he was in a mood like this, and they watched him leave without questions.

Ginny was suddenly very aware of the fact that her shoulders were bare, and how low her dress came, and how much of her legs was showing, and became very self conscious. She felt the weight of Blaise's eyes on her, and she fidgeted nervously. She toyed with her necklace, crossed and uncrossed her legs, and took little bites of everything on her plate, all while knowing Blaise was watching her every move.

She finally glanced up at him and held his gaze. Her breath caught in her throat. Her heartbeat sped up, but it was only because of the view…right?

Blaise looked at her while he took another sip of his scotch. She'd finally decided to look up. She looked beautiful.

Out on the deck, Hermione could barely make out the table, but she could see it well enough to tell there were only two people left. It must've been Ginny and Blaise, since Draco's seat was now unoccupied. Huh. Maybe there _was _something going on with those two…

"That was a pretty crazy dinner."

Why was he out here? She had thought- hoped- he had gone back to his room.

"No, that was an obnoxious dinner, thanks to you." She whirled around and found herself nose to nose with Malfoy. She whirled back around, her hair hitting him on the cheek.

He was slightly intoxicated by the scent of her shampoo, until he remembered that this was Granger- filthy, Muggle Granger. He stepped back a few inches. He closed his eyes and leaned on the rail for a moment, then pulled himself up and perched atop of it.

"What are you doing? Are you insane? You're going to fall and die- not that that would be so bad, considering the circumstances- and then I'll be blamed…just get down, you fucking psycho."

Draco had never before heard anything worse than "Merlin's pants" come out of Hermione's mouth. It sounded foreign to him. He grinned slyly, then hopped down and turned, leaning his elbows on the railing.

"It's a great view, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know; your big head is blocking it."

Hermione knew she was being a bitch but didn't care. She kept staring out over the water, trying to think of an excuse to leave his presence.

Draco laughed dryly and shook his head. "That's some good material you've got there, Granger, but don't you have anything else you want to talk about than me?"

"Hmm... No thanks. Now if you'll excuse me, I…cut my foot earlier and I think my shoe is…filling up with blood."

Looking bewildered by her own excuse, Hermione quickly walked away from Draco and towards the safety of her own room. Maybe Ginny would already be there waiting and she could bitch about Malfoy while drinking.

But Ginny wasn't back at the room yet. While the exchange between Draco and Hermione on the deck was happening, Ginny and Blaise had started talking, and kept talking, then left the dining room still talking. They found themselves in a small empty corridor.

"Where are we?" Ginny looked around, not recognizing anything about her surroundings.

Blaise laughed a polite laugh. "Ginny." He pointed to the wall, where there was a map of the ship with a golden star telling Ginny "You Are Here."

Ginny started laughing at her mistake, and Blaise couldn't help noticing how…radiant she looked. He had never thought of a girl as radiant before, but the adjective seemed to fit Ginny so perfectly at this point in time.

Ginny checked her watch, and her hand started towards where her back pockets would be if she was wearing jeans when she realized her phone was still in Hermione's clutch.

"Damn it. I have to go…I promised Hermione we could talk and drink and have girl time tonight."

Blaise was visibly disappointed, but he seemed to understand. "What are you doing tonight?"

Ginny looked at him as if he was slow. "Did… Did you not just hear me? I said-"

"No, no, I mean, later tonight. Like way later."

He looked down at her eagerly. "Oh, like…Oh. Um…we'll probably be done by 1:30, and she'll be a little drunk so it won't take her long to fall asleep. Come to my room around 2:15."

She gave him her room number, then they stood awkwardly, not knowing how to say goodbye- A hug? A kiss?

"Well, I guess I'll see you then." Blaise gave her a quick hug, like he wasn't sure if he was allowed to, then smiled and started down the hallway.

Ginny watched him go then headed down to her own room. She had to keep looking at the maps on the wall to see where to go, but she finally got there. After making sure the hallway was clear, she reached in her bra and pulled out her room key. She hated doing that when people were around; it was downright awkward.

She let herself in the room and found Hermione sitting on her bed in a bathrobe, a glass of the complimentary wine that was in their fridge in hand. An unopened bottle of tequila sat on the counter with a bottle of vodka next to it. The vodka had already been opened, and judging from what Ginny could see, she hazarded a guess that Hermione had taken a swig or two from it.

"Was dinner really that good?" Hermione wanted to know.

Ginny sighed, because she knew no matter what she said, Hermione was going to be a little mad at her. "No, it was actually kind of bad. Hanging out with Blaise, however, really was _that_ good."

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. "So…how was it?" Hermione may have been mad, but she couldn't stay mad when her best friend looked so incredibly happy.

"It was so fun. He's so nice and so fun to be around, and he's awesome," Ginny gushed.

"Yeah, that's cool. He'd be better for you if his best friend wasn't such a jerk off. Get the tequila and bring it over here."

Ginny complied, and when Hermione got her hands on it she opened it and drank it straight.

Damn. Ginny probably could have told Blaise to come even sooner.

"What happened?" Ginny asked as she walked to the bathroom to change.

"Nothing! That's the thing. He came out to the deck where I was, and talked about the view and how crazy dinner was. He wasn't mean or anything and he was just so perfectly…nice, it was awful!"

Hermione knew that sounded backwards, but she knew Ginny would understand.

"Whatever, babe. Fuck him. He's stupid." Ginny came out of the bathroom in the other robe and grabbed the vodka and a carton of juice on her way back to the bed. She, unlike Hermione, couldn't drink anything straight except champagne and wine.

An hour later, around twelve thirty, they were both giggling and feeling the effects of the alcohol. Ginny turned up the music on their iPod docking station, loving the songs that were pounding through the speakers. They jumped on the bed for a while, laughing and dancing around, until they finally collapsed into a drunken heap of laughter and happiness.

Not forty minutes after that, Hermione was already comfortably sleeping in her bed. Ginny grabbed her phone and scrolled through it, hoping that some miracle had occurred and Blaise's number, given to her earlier, had appeared in her phone. She threw her phone down in frustration when it hadn't, although she hadn't been expecting anything else. There was a knock on her door and she stormed over to open it.

Blaise stood in the open door frame in jeans and a sweatshirt. Ginny squealed and tried to close the door, but he stopped it.

"Sorry I'm early." Blaise walked in her room and sat in an arm chair.

"It's okay…I was hoping to look a little more presentable when you got here." Ginny looked down at the bathrobe she was wearing and giggled lightly.

"I think you look fine." Blaise laced his hands behind his head and leaned back, smiling slightly at Ginny.

Ginny blushed then started going through her clothes for something to wear. She pulled out her favorite jean shorts and walked to the closet to get her comfiest tank top. She modestly walked into the bathroom, making sure to close the door completely behind her. She shrugged off the robe and slipped into her shorts and tank top.

She glanced in the mirror and, as quietly as she could, opened a drawer and pulled out lip gloss. She swiped it across her lips quickly and, satisfied with her reflection, walked back out to where Blaise was waiting.

She pulled open the door and found Blaise standing right in front of her.

"Whoa! You were over…there…" She frivolously pointed to the chair he had been sitting in.

"And now I'm over here. And now, let's go." Blaise pushed open the door and allowed Ginny out the door first.

Hermione heard the door open through her drunken ears, and she raised herself off the bed as far as she could. The only reward for her efforts was a glimpse of Blaise following Ginny out the door.

Around that same time, Draco woke up to find an empty bed next to him. He walked to the bathroom and saw a note on the mirror- how did Blaise know where he would go?

_Draco-_

_Out with a friend. Be back in the morning, dude._

_Don't call._

Draco sighed. Like he thought I wouldn't know he was out with that Weasel girl. After Granger left Draco standing on the deck alone, he felt slightly bad and headed to where else but the bar. Having only a beer or two he walked back to his room and passed out on the bed. Apparently he missed Blaise when he walked into the room before leaving again. But the night was still young in Draco's eyes, he needed to get out. Now that he was fully rested he decided to go check out the ship itself. I mean it wasn't too late to just walk around was it.

So Draco left his cabin and wandered around familiarizing himself with each different bar, club, and casino. He passed many a fair damsels as he made his way through a plethora of hallways and staircases. Though none caught his attention. Through his mindless walking, Draco somehow made his way out to the observation deck. He leaned against the closest railing and laid his head down on his arms and sighed.

As Ginny and Blaise left, Hermione was sobered up just a little bit. There was no coffee in her God damned cabin and she was pissed. Every wave the ship floated over made Hermione feel as if she was on a roller coaster. Leaving her room with one location set in mind she made her way to the buffet. With warm coffee in hand Hermione decided the huge buffet dining area was too creepy for her tastes. Grabbing another cup, one for each hand, she made her way through the ship looking for somewhere to sit and drink her coffee. She came upon a wall of large glass doors and windows leading outside. Hermione could see some comfy looking chairs lined up along the railing looking out over the water. She sauntered in, in her semi-drunken state. She was surprised herself that she hadn't spilled the hot beverage on herself yet. She sat down on one of the lounging chairs and began to sip on her coffee. She didn't notice the young man on the railing a few feet away. Bringing her cup up to her mouth she waited for the warm liquid to hit her lips, but before she felt it, she sensed a burning feeling on her thigh.

"Shit!" She yelled, apparently she was still drunk enough to miss her mouth.

The outburst jerked Draco back to reality. He looked up, not seeing anyone at first. Then he noticed Hermione sitting in a lounge chair just a few feet away. He tried to stifle his laugh and it ended up coming out in a snort.

The noise made Hermione's head snap up and she momentarily stopped wiping helplessly at her burning leg. She bristled at the realization he was laughing at her.

"You think this is fucking funny?! This isn't fucking entertainment! This shit burns! How about I throw this cup of coffee on your damn face, see how much you laugh then." Hermione was pissed.

Draco responded by biting first his lip then his knuckles trying to keep his laughter inside. Hermione's face got redder and redder as she tried to subdue another outburst. Finally, she compromised by whisper-yelling at him.

"Stop laughing, you insensitive clod! I have God damn third degree burns on my leg and you're just standing there laughing at me! Why are you out here anyways? Can't I go on the deck without you for once?"

"Actually, I was out here first," Draco pointed out.

"I don't…that's not…you aren't…I'm not…" Hermione sputtered, at a loss for words. Finally she went back to attending to the burns on her thigh.

Draco walked over to her and sat down. He bent over and looked at her thigh, which she had pulled her skirt up to expose after spilling on it. Her hate for him told her to pull the skirt back down, but her instincts told her not to. He reached out and touched where she had spilled, causing her to flinch.

"It's not that bad…first degree, not third. Maybe a tiny bit of second directly where you spilled it. But you're going to be fine."

"How do you know that?"

"My third cousin married a Muggle. The Muggle she married was a fire fighter. I was always close with her and visit her from time to time, so I met him a few times. Learned a thing or two about stuff like that."

"It's good that you're close with someone in your family." Hermione tried to keep the twinge of jealousy from her voice, but she knew it was there. Her parents had suddenly stopped supporting her being a witch. It was so weird because at first they were so excited, and now here they were telling their daughter that her magical fantasy was over and she needed to come back to the real world. When she had refused, they had stopped talking to her.

"Yeah, I guess. Most people wouldn't guess that I'm closest with the only person in my family to marry a Muggle, but we've always been close, and I wasn't about to let some guy come between me and my best friend, you know? Oh, yeah," he added, seeing Hermione's look of surprise, "I can be a decent human being."

Hermione wanted to say something, she knew she was expected to, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She looked down and saw his hand was still on her thigh. She glanced up and saw his face mere inches from hers.

"Wow. There's a twist I never expected."

"What, my cousin marrying a Muggle?"

"No, you being a decent human being." Hermione smiled slightly and Draco couldn't help but notice her eyes twinkle in the moonlight.

"Yeah, I try to keep it on the down low, so if you could not tell anyone…" Draco gave her a coy smile then laughed.

"You know, they came up with a name for guys like you."

"Oh, really? Please, do tell."

Hermione tried to think of what she was going to say, but she had glanced down once more to find Draco's hand still on her leg. She looked back up and his face was even closer than it had been.

She realized he was leaning in, and she suddenly remembered what she was saying.

"Pricks."

Draco looked confused. "What?"

"That's the word for guys like you. Pricks."

Hermione stood, pulled her skirt down, and picked up her coffee (thank goodness for the calm, clear night- if any other waves had come her other coffee would have been all over the deck by now) and turned to walk away.

As Hermione walked away, Draco realized this could possibly be the worst or best situation he has ever been in. He then grinned as he looked back out at the water as he, the boat, and all future opportunities sail to their next destination.

A/N: Yay Chapter wooooo!


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